


in every universe it's you

by unicyclehippo



Series: golly one shots [1]
Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/F, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:05:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unicyclehippo/pseuds/unicyclehippo
Summary: tumblr prompt —Could you write about Gail having a bad allergic reaction to tomatoes and Holly bringing her to the hospital?





	1. Chapter 1

The whole situation, Gail reflected, could have been avoided if Holly had just told her  _why_ the sandwiches weren’t for her. She thought that it was because she’d eaten about ten at home - look at her being all grown up and shit, calling Holly’s loft ‘home’ - and Holly didn’t want her having any more or ruining her appetite for the cupcakes she had also baked. 

Holly had written a note and taped it to the box. She’d had to leave early for work but trusted her girlfriend - bad decision that, particularly around food - to deliver it safely to the station.

 _Not for Gail’s consumption_ , the note said. Plus there was a little angry face. And beside the little angry face was a little happy face and a love heart because Holly was a nerd and incapable of even pretending to be angry. But the little smiling happy face was what confused Gail. Was the ‘not for consumption’ still valid if it were undermined by a smiling face? She had to test that theory. 

She ate one. Okay, she ate two of the sandwiches. They’d been bothering her all day sitting there all smug and snooty because she, Gail Peck, Captain of the World, wasn’t allowed to eat them and she was sure that Holly had put something extra special on them because she was trying to win over all those lame rookies. 

And she was right. Holly did put something extra special in them. 

Tomatoes.

Of _course_  that had to be the extra special secret ingredient. And, of course in hindsight, the whole ‘Gail don’t eat these sandwiches okay?’ made sense. Because Holly knew that Gail was allergic. And what was a common ingredient in sandwiches? Tomatoes. 

 _Tomatoes_ , Gail texted Holly with rapidly swelling fingers. Just that. Tomatoes. 

The reply was almost instant.  _You’re an idiot. How bad?_

 _Not too bad_. She hadn’t directly eaten a tomato. She’d probably just been unlucky enough to eat some of the juice, as if Holly had wiped the tomato knife on the bread or used it to cut all the ingredients. It wasn’t bad enough to warrant using her epipen but the hives spreading down her cheeks were uncomfortable and itchy and the slight swelling of her tongue was making her nervous.  _I’m not happy_.

 _I’ll be there in five_. 

To her credit, Holly didn’t laugh when she saw Gail. Her girlfriend - having been excused from work the second Oliver saw the swollen cheeks and teary eyes - was red and looked a bit like a sad hamster and Holly stood in front of her and gave her the most disapproving look she could muster before taking her hands and helping her up. 

“Come on, you,” Holly tutted. “Hospital.”

Gail looked like she was about to argue but thought better of it when she couldn’t talk well enough around her tongue to actually do the arguing. Her shoulders slumped and she obediently trailed out of the station behind her girlfriend. “Do we have to talk about you not eating other peoples food or do you think you’ve learnt your lesson?” Holly asked as she pulled out of the car park. 

“I’ve learnt my lesson,” Gail grumbled through swollen lips. And she looked so downtrodden and unhappy that Holly leant over and pecked her very lightly and brushed her fingertips over a red-speckled cheek. 

“If you’re nice to the doctors, I’ll let you eat the ice-cream you thought you hid super sneakily in the freezer when we get home.” And if she heard the ‘can I eat it off you’ that Gail mumbled, she didn’t say anything. There may have been a slight hint of a nod, however, and Gail took that as a yes. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt —It's Moving Day at university. Gail and Holly both are expecting single dorms so naturally are annoyed when they find out they'll be dorming together. Being Gail, she starts sassily cursing at her bad luck while Holly starts feeling bad and offers to talk to the administration. Realizing that her bad mood has perhaps hurt Holly, Gail surprises herself by caring and actually apologizing to Holly. The two bond when Holly pulls out her "FRIENDS" complete series DVD collection.

“Oh hell no.”

“Who are you?”

“Who am  _I_? Who are you?” The two young women faced off in the corridor, made less intimidating by the cardboard boxes they were clinging to vainly as they tried to glare at one another. Well, only Gail was glaring. But in her defence she had been kicked out of her car, whistled at, pinched, groped, knocked, shushed, glared at, and ignored in the short time she had been here. The least she was expecting was a room of her own. And now there was this girl standing there and saying it was  _her_ room?

“Holly.” She put her box down and pulled out the letter she’d been given. This was it. Dorm 15, Room 204. “This is definitely my room.”

“Gail,” she grunted in response. Then, to herself, “Great. Fantastic. One hundred per cent what I wanted.” Gail glared up at the ceiling. “Thanks a bunch.”

Holly just bit her lip. It wasn’t like she’d asked for a roommate either and if she had, she certainly wouldn’t have asked for a crabby, bad tempered, mean roommate, no matter how attractive she was. But she didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot and risk a years worth of continuous wrath - or, possibly worse, a years worth of silence - so she kept her head down and opened the door to the room.

“I just wanted to be alone and what do they do? Shove me in with some stranger,” Gail grumbled to herself, dumping the box she was carrying on the first bed she saw. It didn’t even occur to her to ask Holly which bed she wanted. “Stupid administration can’t even get one thing right.” Another box on the bed. “I don’t even like people.” Slammed her pillow down. “Worst freaking decision of my life,” she groaned into her pillow, flopping onto the bed face down. 

Holly closed her eyes. Sucked in a deep breath. “I can talk to them. If you want?” she offered quietly. “So you don’t have to be stuck with me.”

Gail lifted her head at the words. Ran a hand through her hair and tried in vain to make it less messy as she actually saw who her roommate was for the first time. Sure she had  _seen_ Holly in the hall but really only as someone who was going into her dorm room - someone she was going to have to share with even though she’d asked for a single room. Now, she saw that she was pretty and quiet and looked kind of…hurt but Gail’s babbling. 

“I’m sorry,” she said in return. “It wasn’t you. I mean, it was you. But it wasn’t.” Holly frowned, confused. “Today has just been  _super_ crappy and I’m sure you’re fine,” Gail said with a grimace. Talking to girls had never been her forte. Talking to a girl who she was going to have to live with and who she’d rather not hurt the feelings of - and  _apologise_ to her - was well outside her wheelhouse. 

“Did someone almost drop a wardrobe on your toes?” Holly asked, pulling her feet up onto her bed.

“No?”

“They did for me.” A little grin challenged Gail and she narrowed her eyes.

“Did you walk past the boys dorm and almost get abducted?” Holly shook her head no. “Yeah, didn’t think so.” She folded her arms over her chest like that was some kind of winning hand. 

“Did you have some bitch slam into you and make you drop your crockery box and have everything - absolutely  _everything_ \- break?” Gail winced and shook her head no. “Yeah. Boom!” she said, making a fist and blowing it out with the appropriate accompaniment of an explosive sound. Gail smirked at the other girl. She wasn’t ready to lose yet, though. 

“Did your movers lose your entertainment box?” she challenged. 

“No,” Holly had to admit. “But the only stuff I really brought for that was F.R.I.E.N.D.S." 

Gail bit her lip. Fiddled with her fingers. "I’m sorry I was a bitch. Before.” Holly shrugged. “I don’t really mind. Having a roommate.” She pulled her pillow onto her lap and hugged it. “I’m just…well, I’m kind of always a bitch so you’ll get sick of me pretty soon.” She laughed sadly and Holly frowned. 

“Hey, you almost got abducted by boys. I think I can cut you a break. But just this once, missy,” Holly mock-scolded, waggling her finger. 

Gail smiled a little bit. “Did you know that you’re a nerd?”

“Yep.”

“Okay then.” Gail laid back on her head. “Tell me when I’m being a bitch, okay?”

“Sure. Hey, did you want to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S instead of unpacking?”

“Yes! What seasons do you have?”

“All of them.”

“Oh my god, Holly, I think I’m in love with you.” Gail grabbed her laptop and flung herself onto the bed next to Holly. “Shove over. Move.” She scowled. “ _Move_ , Holly, come on." Holly grinned and held out a bit longer until Gail sighed and added a "please” before she wiggled over to give the blonde some room. “Finally,” Gail grumbled. Holly fished her DVDs out of a bag and gave it to Gail to start up before she found her last pack of popcorn and went to pop it. 

“Maybe we should start from the start?” she suggested. 

Gail gave her a thumbs up and turned the screen so she could see that they had obviously had the same thought. Holly smiled at the microwave. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — Gail, Nick, and Chloe are celebrating exams being over at the local bar, when a drink appears in front of Gail and the waiter informs them that the brunette across the room wanted him to bring this over. The brunette, Holly, smiles at them. Thinking it's for Nick, Gail hands it over. Minutes later, Holly comes over, but before Nick can say thanks, she stares at Gail and asks her why she declined her drink. Nick and Gail are shocked while Chloe tries not to laugh

”Thank fuck that is over,” Gail said. They toasted her words with a shot each. The bartender filled up the glasses. 

“Thank fuck we don’t have to go back,” Nick continued. Another shot.

“I’m so glad you guys let me come,” Chloe said, oblivious to the obvious trend in their toasts. They usually started with ‘thank fuck’ and ended with something not sappy. Nick and Gail rolled their eyes at her but they downed their shots because hey, a toast was a toast. 

“Thank fuck,” Gail said, shooting a look at Chloe that meant pay attention this is how you do a real toast, we let the last one slide but get it right next time, “that I don’t have to spend another day with idiots.” Shots. 

“Thank fuck,” Nick got a head nod of approval because see? A proper toast. Very good, Nicholas. “That I am so damn attractive.” Gail and Chloe slapped his head at the same time, downing their shots with their spare hands. 

“Thank God,” Chloe began. Gail rolled her eyes but it was better than her last attempt so she let it slide, “that alcohol exists.” And that was a  _very_ good toast so Gail grinned along with Chloe and drank. 

The bartender smiled as he came over, filling up their drinks. Then he placed a drink in front of Gail that they hadn’t ordered and smiled. “From the lady,” he said, nodding his head toward a brunette in the corner who smiled and returned to a book. 

Nerd. What kind of nerd read in a bar? Gail found herself smiling because seriously - who would do that? Then she sighed a little because she would never know because that drink was obviously for stupid Nicholas and it would be weird wandering over to talk to someone who had bad taste enough to flirt with him.

“Here,” she said, pushing the drink over to him, pouting a little. She would have liked a free drink. “From the girl,” she said. 

He grinned at the brunette, who tilted her head curiously to the side. Gail turned to Chloe, who was smiling to herself. “What?”

“What?” she chirped back. 

“What?”

“ _What_ , Gail?”

“Why are you smiling?”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You always smile. It’s annoying.” Gail narrowed her eyes and chewed on the end of her straw. 

“Well, I wasn’t.” Chloe sipped at her drink and smiled at Gail over the lip of the glass. “Well, I am now but I wasn’t then. Or I might have been but I don’t always think about it so I probably didn’t realise that I was sm-”

“Okay, tiny person. That’s enough.” Gail rolled her eyes and turned away, only to be confronted by the bartender again. “Oh. Hey. I think we’re good here.”

“Actually,” he said, handing her another drink, “the drink was for  _you_.” He nodded over to the brunette again, who was watching her very intently with a tiny smile. Gail blushed from her neck to the top of her ears and took the drink. Maintaining eye contact, she took a slow pull and, when it was absolutely delicious, she stood. 

"Nick, give me that,” she said, snagging the drink she had given him. He frowned. 

“Hey, but she-”

“She’s not interested. Mine now.”

Chloe patted Nick’s shoulder and tried not to laugh. They watched as a slightly very tipsy Gail made her way over to the corner of the bar and sat down in the booth with the reading woman.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” A look down at Gail’s hands had the woman grinning. “So Jack told you the drinks were for you?”

“Is that his name?” Gail smiled and waved at the bartender. “I thought it was Jimmy.”

“Ah. That would explain why he said you were a little mean, a little funny.” She laughed when Gail pouted. “I’m Holly, by the way.”

Gail liked her smile. And her laugh. And her honesty. And her face. “Gail. Thanks for the drink.”

“Thanks for the company.” Holly looked over Gail’s shoulder and her face fell. “Oh. Your friends are leaving.” She fiddled with the corner of her page. “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

“Nah.” Gail pulled out her phone and texted Nick before tucking it back in her bag. “I’m all yours.”

“Really?” Holly pushed her book aside and crossed her arms on the table in front of her, leaning in to talk to Gail. “And what do you suggest we do then?”

//

Twenty minutes and a slightly tipsy taxi drive later, Gail was gripping onto Holly’s hand and opening the door for her.

“An ice cream parlour? Really?”

Gail shrugged. “You asked me what I thought we should do. This is the best place around for ice cream and tequila makes me really, really want ice cream.” Holly shrugged. That was reasonable enough. Though she wouldn’t lie - she had been thinking something more along the lines of body shots, body shots in a kitchen owned by one of them, private body shots, body shots in bed, body shots without alcohol that just consisted of skin and tongues and salty sweat.

She shook herself out of those thoughts when the ice cream man greeted them happily and chatted away with Gail in a tone and with questions that suggested Gail had been here often.

“The usual, Gail?”

“Yes. Please.”

“And who is your friend?” he asked, serving two portions. “She is very beautiful.”

“This is Holly,” Gail said, flushing lightly. “And, uh, yes. She is.” She paid very quickly for her dessert, mumbled a thank you and a goodbye, and dragged Holly out of the store, who returned a friendly wave goodbye from the store owner. 

“So,” Holly teased, “I’m beautiful, huh?”

“Shut up.”

They walked in silence for a little while before Holly blurted out, “You’re beautiful too, you know?” And Gail glanced at her sideways with a shy smile and shrugged her shoulder. 

“Thanks.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — Gail sees Holly getting bullied by some kids for being gay and ends up fighting them. Holly skips class with Gail to play nurse. (Gail is a freshman and knows she's gay too)

Gail tried not to pay much attention to anything while she was at school other than the lessons. She didn’t have time to be distracted. She had to do her assignments, get good participation marks, and make a good impression on the teachers. That didn’t leave much room for dilly-dallying. Or lunch. Or friends, actually. 

She  _tried_ not to pay much attention to anything. That was difficult when, say, she heard some scuffles coming from the bathroom that sounded very out of place in the middle of class period - she was only out of class because her science teacher had asked her to deliver something to reception. But Gail shook her head, made to ignore it, because whatever it was, what _ever_ it was - and it could very likely be something she did not want to see like people doing the nasty - it was none of her business. 

“Stop, please,” was all she needed to hear to double back and throw the door open. Two faces turned toward her. A third, Gail noticed, was looking down to the ground. 

“Oh. Hey, Gail,” one of the girls said, smiling sweetly. 

“What’s going on?” Her tone was cold - but she was always cold. The girls didn’t take much note of it. 

“Just teaching the new girl how things work around her. Isn’t that right?” The girl - Diana? Dianne? Gail thought her name might be along those lines - directed the question to the silent girl, who nodded. She was still staring at her feet. 

Gail stepped fully into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. “What exactly are you teaching her?” she asked carefully. 

The second girl spoke up. Mona, Gail thought, putting a name to the face. “She was checking out some of the girls in PE,” she told Gail helpfully. “That is  _so_ ,”

“Gay?” Gail suggested. 

“Exactly!” Mona sounded horrified. “And, I mean, we told Miss Bell but she didn’t do anything about it.”

“So we thought we’d do it for her. Just a friendly little chat. Isn’t that right, Holly?” Dianne-Diana person said. 

The girl - Holly, Gail corrected herself - nodded and mumbled some kind of agreement. She didn’t like that. She hadn’t looked up once, her arms were wrapped around her body, and when Gail stepped forward, Holly flinched. 

“How awful,” Gail drawled, “that people like you are allowed in our schools.” Mona and Diana-Dianne smirked. “Thinking that you’re allowed to put your hands on other people. Hurt them.” She took a few more steps forward until she was between Holly and  _them_ and then she turned and crossed her arms. “What is wrong with you?” she asked. It was direct. To the point. Quite clear, or so she thought.

“Huh?” Their dumbfounded expressions made it obvious that it hadn’t been clear. 

Gail felt like she was bubbling. Anger fizzed under the surface of her skin - it was a new experience for her. All her life she had stayed calm, stayed cool, never gotten into fights or bothered about anything because she was just passing through and didn’t care about any of the petty high school dramas. 

“I’ll be reporting this,” she said. “To the Principal. And perhaps even to the police. This kind of shit isn’t okay.”

“What?” Mona scowled. “Why? She's  _gay_ \- it’s weird.”

“I’ve always found it quite natural, personally.” Gail resisted the urge to smirk when the girls faces dropped into disgust. 

“ _You’re_ gay?” They were, no doubt, recalling all those times they had invited her to parties or sleepovers in the hope that her connections would become theirs by some strange social osmosis. 

“Very much so.” She heard a shifting behind her and imagined that the girl looked up. Turning to check, to see if she was coming out of her shock, Gail didn’t see Mona lunging towards her. She did feel the pain when a hand connected with her cheek. She did stumble. And she did crack her head hard against the tiled wall when Mona shoved her backwards. 

Despite small blinking lights dancing over the backs of her eyelids for a moment, Gail regained her footing quickly and, berating herself for taking her eyes off the girls no matter how little of challenge they appeared, she slammed her hand into Mona’s solar plexus and allowed herself a small grin when the girl fell to the ground and gasped for breath. Diana-Dianne fled. That was alright. Her purse was still against the wall so Gail snagged the student ID and slid it into her pocket. Mona was inching away and Gail sneered at the crawling, slimy bitch. 

“Leave." 

She did, sprinting from the bathroom. 

Then, and only then, with the door closing behind the fleeing figure, did Gail allow the dizziness to unsteady her and stumbled over to the sinks. She gripped the porcelain and blinked a few times to get her bearings. Then she checked the damage, probing at the bump on her head and seeing if the slap had split her lip. 

"Here, let me.” Hands touched Gail’s hair and Gail pulled away quickly. 

Gail jumped at the soft voice, away and into the wall. A full blush covered her cheeks then because she remembered the presence of Holly, who was smiling apologetically at her, eyes lowered, and had pulled her hands back. 

“Sorry,” Gail offered. “I just…”

“Forgot?” Holly shrugged. “That’s okay.”

“No! I mean, yes. But I didn’t forget  _you_. I just… _forgot_ you. For a second.” Gail bit her lip - and groaned with pain because it wasn’t split but it did feel a little swollen. “Ouch.”

“Can I?” Holly asked, holding her hands still in the space between them. “Your head might be bleeding.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Please?” Holly looked up, finally, and met Gail’s eyes and they were so, so brown and so full of just, wow, everything. Like thankfulness and pleading and soft and sweet and worried and nervous and Gail found herself nodding. “Thank you. Turn around please.”

Holly was all business. She moved Gail’s head on her neck so that she could examine the bump which, she saw, wasn’t bleeding but it was sore, Gail told her when she probed at the area. 

“Ouch. Ouch. Stop that. Ouch.”

“Well, you can still talk and feel pain so you’re at least partially functional,” Holly said with barely a trace of a smile. “Come on. Let’s get you to the nurse.”

“What? No. You just checked me out.” Gail shrugged out of Holly’s hands and strode out of the bathroom. “I’m fine. I’m going back to class.”

It would have made more of an impact, she thought, if she hadn’t stumbled in the corridor. Holly caught her and sat her down a bench. 

“You aren’t fine.”

“I am!”

“You aren’t. Can you make it to the nurse or do you want me to run and get you some ice?” Gail thought about it for a moment, plotting the distance in her mind to the nurses station, and stood.

“I’m fine. Come on.”

Holly walked beside her the whole way, hands out just in case Gail did trip or fall again. She knocked on the door for her and smiled sweetly at old missus whats-her-face. Gail blinked. Mrs Sandeep. 

“Holly, what on earth are you doing here? It’s class time,” she said, disapprovingly. “And who is your friend?”

“Oh, I’m not here for fun, ma'am. All business. This is Gail. She, uh,” Holly frowned and Gail took over. 

“Hit my head. Just a little. I’m fine.”

“Nonsense. Let’s get you checked out.” Gail was pulled into the room and manhandled onto the bed, despite her best protests. Then followed a thorough examination of her head and more probing and more muttering from Gail, "Ouch. Ouch. Can you not? Ouch. Obviously not…“, and finally Mrs Sandeep pronounced that Gail was to stay on the bed -  _no_ she couldn’t leave - and keep the ice pack in place.

Holly swung up onto the bed next to her and grinned when Gail pouted over to her. 

"Thank you,” she said. “By the way.”

“Huh?”

“For saving me.”

Gail’s gaze scoured the sweet face and noted with relief that it was lacking any bruising the girls might have inflicted. She shrugged. “No worries. I’m glad you’re okay.” Her eyes narrowed. “You  _are_ okay, right?”

“Yes. They were just…” Holly sighed. “Not very nice.”

“Yeah. I bet.” Gail tried to pull the ice pack away but Holly’s suddenly fierce, narrowed eyes made her rethink that. “Don’t you have to go to class?”

“I think I can skip just one. To make sure that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” Gail insisted. Even if she did feel a little bit like throwing up.

“You aren’t.” Holly bit her lip. “You were dizzy and you look green so you probably feel sick. Am I right?” Gail scowled. Like she would give the girl the satisfaction of being right. “You probably have a concussion.”

When Gail threw up ten minutes later, Holly even held her hair back. But she gloated. “See? I was totally right. Concussion.”

“That,” Gail groaned, “has not been confirmed.” She hung her head. “Why did I do this?” she asked the universe. 

“I don’t know,” Holly laughed. “But seriously. Thanks.” She hesitated for a moment before touching Gail’s hand. Then, when the blonde didn’t move away, she laid her hand fully on top and then squeezed gently. “Really. Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gail grumbled, face flushing. “Whatever.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — They have a teenager. Kid gets in trouble with the police. Gail's not at all pleased when she's informed and wants to teach the kid a lesson. Holly thinks they should go easy on the kid. They argue. Your choice as to what they decide to do.

”Peck.”

“Detective Peck,” a polite voice said. “I’ve got your daughter here.”

“What?” Gail turned away from the crime scene, already pulling out her keys. “Sophie? Where?”

“She’s at the station, Detective.”

Gail rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “What did she do?” The officer hesitated and Gail growled again, “What did she  _do,_ Simmons?”

“She was vandalising police vehicles,” the man admitted. 

Gail nodded. “Of course she was.” She looked back over the crime scene and found her wife watching her, eyes worried. Gail jerked her head and Holly stood immediately to pack up her things. 

“Sophie?”

“At the station.”

They organised their team with hurried murmurs - Tomas taking over for Holly and Sam stepping into Gail’s role without question - and Gail opened the passenger side door for her wife before they sped off to the station. 

“This has got to stop,” Gail gritted out. “She keeps doing this Holly and you keep letting her off.” She slammed her hand onto the wheel and Holly turned to her, glowering.

“Our daughter is acting out. What she needs is attention, Gail, not punishment.” She pulled out her phone and checked her messages. There was no new notification but she checked anyway. 

“She vandalised a police car, Holly.” Fingers tightened on the wheel. “She’s doing this for attention and if we pander to that she’ll just do it again and again. Not to mention it’s illegal.”

“Maybe she did it because she feels like you being angry with her is better than you ignoring her all the time.”

“Maybe she did it because she knows that she’ll get away with it when you _baby_ her.”

"Maybe she did it because she feels like for you to pay her any attention she has to be a criminal." There was a moment of tense silence and then Holly sighed. "I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“Yeah. You did.” Gail glanced over to her wife, who looked incredibly guilty. “It’s okay, nerd. I know. I’m busy all the time and I’m sorry. It’s just these assholes keep killing people and I keep getting called out and,”

“I know.” Holly brushed her fingers over Gail’s hair - she’d kept it cropped short all these years - and rested her hand on her wife’s shoulder. “You haven’t had a break from it.” She twirled a strand of blonde around her finger. “But Sophie needs you. She’s a teenager now and that’s a scary time.”

“So what do we do?” Gail drummed her fingers against the wheel. “We can’t do what we’ve been doing,” she started. Holly was already nodding. “Bad cop, good doctor doesn’t really seem to work. We keep getting the signals crossed. We have to be a team.”

“United front.”

“Yeah.”

“So…what do we do?”

Gail and Holly arrived at the station and jumped out. Gail led the way, her hair a bright shining beacon that told her daughter she was coming. Sophie shuffled back and sat heavily on the couch in the break room. Officer Simmons smiled sympathetically at the girl. Everyone knew about Detective Peck’s foul temper. 

“Soph,” Gail said. “What happened?”

“She was-”

“Sorry, officer.” Gail crossed her arms. “I was talking to my daughter.” Simmons gulped. Back away. 

“Sure. I’ll, ah, leave you to it then.” He disappeared and Gail turned to Sophie, who dropped her eyes. 

“It’s not a big deal, Mom,” Sophie tried. Gail just raised her eyebrows. “Sorry." 

"Yeah, you sound sorry,” she snorted. Petulant. Sulky. Those were the words Gail would use to describe her daughter. “Holly?” Sophie jerked her head over to look at her other mother. They hadn’t been all together in the same room for what felt like forever. 

“Ma. Hey.”

Gail and Holly exchanged nods. They would do what they had planned. And hopefully, it would help them all out and maybe shock Sophie into behaving. 

“Sophie, your mother and I had a talk on the way over here.” Holly looked to Gail for reassurance. “Soph, we’re grounding you.”

“What?” Sophie jumped to her feet, fists clenching in anger. “That’s not fair! Ma!”

“Hear her out,” Gail said quietly. Calm. Sophie paused, unsteady, because Gail was normally the one who yelled and Holly was the one who calmed them all down. 

“You’ll be going only to your school things. You can’t have friends over and you can’t go to your friends houses unless you ask us and we both agree. Understand?” Sophie nodded slowly. “No television after nine pm. You’ll go straight to bed. Homework has to be done first.” Sophie nodded again. “You’ll also be working with me for the next two months of Sundays to pay for the damage you did to the car.”

“What?” Sophie screeched. “But I, that’s past when I’m grounded. That’s not fair!”

“Soph, you have to take responsibility for damaging city property. You aren’t getting this on your record and you weren’t arrested. I think you should probably count this as a plus,” Gail advised her daughter. Then she pulled her into a hug and spoke into her hair. “Please, stop getting into trouble. Do you know how scared I get when the cops call me and say it’s about you? Every time,” she said, hugging her a little more tightly, “I’m sure they’re going to say they found you somewhere. And you’re hurt or…” Sophie hugged her back and shoved her face hard into Gail’s shoulder. Holly touched Sophie’s back and her daughter’s hand crept out to hold the hand. 

“Your mom has a little more to tell you,” Holly said. Gail took in a deep breath. Sophie braced herself for more punishment. 

“I’m taking a few days off,” Gail told her. “We all are. You’ve got this weekend and a public holiday on Monday so we thought we’d go on a little vacation. What do you think?”

Sophie broke into a tentative grin. “Just us?”

“Yep.”

“No getting called away?”

“I promise.”

Holly and Gail yelped as Sophie threw herself into them and squealed. They shared sad but relieved smiles and Gail resisted the urge to high-five her wife. 

“Can we go to the museum? Or maybe we can go to that diner?” Sophie pulled away from her mothers. “What about to the hockey rink? There’s a game on tomorrow we can go see.”

“Well, we were thinking more along the lines of take out and a movie. You  _are_ grounded,” Holly reminded her. 

Sophie and Gail smirked. Holly was the worst at being the disciplinary mom. 

"We should just eat everything at the diner,” Gail said to Sophie. “Just like… _everything_.”

"Awesome.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — One night after a late study session, Holly is waiting at the bus stop and listening to some Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles". Suddenly, a blonde she didn't notice (Gail) was also at the bus shelter pokes her, informing Holly that her headphones are so loud and that she can hear them from here. Gail then proceeds to comment on the lack of quality and old age of Holly's song choice.

Holly stepped off the bus, flicking through her music. It was late; she was tired. All she wanted was to be at home and not have to think about other people - okay, that didn’t sound right. It wasn’t like she wanted to not think about other people, she just didn’t want to think about herself in relation to them. Like, ugh she was confusing herself. Bath. Bed. Some food. Not have to be sitting next to leering, smelly old men. And she was  _beyond_ sick of this stupid bag that weighed a freaking tonne. 

She placed her bag on the ground and rolled her shoulders, sighing as she took a seat at the bus stop. Everything was going to be fine, she reminded herself. It was only a little while until her bus was coming and then she would be home soon after that and then, finally, she could get some sleep. Holly changed her music, smiled at the apt “A Thousand Miles” that came up next, and left it on. 

The piano intro was nice, soothing. And she  _wished_ she was making her way down town already and at home. Holly closed her eyes. 

Poke.

Holly jumped a foot out of her seat and into a standing position. Her eyes flashed open and she found herself staring into wide, blue eyes.

“Hi,” the girl mouthed. Because that was definitely a girl.

Holly blurted out “Hey” and the girl grimaced. She said something and Holly frowned because she couldn’t hear what it was - maybe the girl was mute? Maybe - oh. She blushed and tugged the earphones out. “Sorry. I was,”

“Listening to some good old Vanessa Carlton,” the girl said for her. “I stress  _old._ When was that released? 1760?” Holly blinked. “That isn’t a good song. Why were you playing it so loud?”

"Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise,” Holly shrugged. She paused the song and had to acknowledge that the girl was right. It had been really loud. “I kind of use music to block people out,” she admitted quietly, blushing because wow, she sounded like a bit of a psychopath and did that sound rude? She hoped she didn’t sound rude. 

“Everyone does that,” the girl said, shrugging. “Not everyone has bad enough taste to do with with A Thousand Miles. It’s the worst song I’ve ever heard.”

“Ah, yes, but you have heard it.” Holly blushed again. Why was she being so weird tonight, quoting Pirates of the Caribbean and blushing over and over and standing awkwardly talking to this stranger? 

“Okay, whatever Captain Jack,” the perfect stranger laughed. “Give me your i-pod.”

“What?”

“I-pod.” After a moment, she rolled her eyes and tacked on a, “please.” And Holly found that she was handing it over without another thought and she waited as the girl scrolled through her music. 

“Aha. Here. If you want old  _and_ good music…” She handed the i-pod back and shoved hands deep into her pockets. She waited for Holly to see her selection. 

"Blondie?” Holly laughed. 

“What’s wrong with Blondie?”

“Nothing. Just…” Holly looked up at the girl’s shockingly bright blonde hair and smiled again. “Nothing at all.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

The conversation petered out then before the stranger picked it up. “So what are you doing tonight?” Holly shook her head slightly - she wasn’t really doing anything. “There’s a band playing at this dive. They’re really bad. You clearly have bad taste in music so you’ll love it.”

“Okay?” Holly laughed a little but watched, entranced, as this incredibly confident up until this point girl shuffled her feet a little and scratched at the back of her neck. 

“D’you want to come?”

“To see a really bad band play at some dive?”

“Yeah. If you want." 

Holly saw her bus approaching then and she looked from it, shuddering into the bus stop, to the girl. She bit her lip. Hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder. The bus pulled away, a few passengers heavier, and Holly reached out. 

"I’m Holly.”

“Gail.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — au where gail goes to get tutoring for biology or something and holly happens to be the tutor.

Gail dropped her bag in the hall and trudged further into the house. She headed straight for the fridge and pulled out a beer and a sandwich. Then, moving into the living room, she almost dropped both. 

“Holly?”

“Gail, hey. You’re right on time.” Holly looked up over her glasses and smiled. “Are you ready?”

“Ready?” Gail swallowed. Heck yes she was ready. But, she thought when she took the time to blink, Holly was a tricksey person. Tricksey indeed. “Ready for what?”

“Our study session?” Holly reminded her. Inside, of course, she was enjoyed the way Gail was staring at her and didn’t seem to be able to move. But she didn’t let her girlfriend see that. She just bit down lightly on the end of her pencil and blinked innocently over to her. 

“Study?” Gail croaked. This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t fucking fair. Holly was wearing jean shorts and a plaid shirt - super gay by the way, Stewart - and the shirt was open to show a tank top and her hair was messy and her glasses framed her eyes and she was grinning around her pencil and then she licked her lips and, “Stop studying. Right now.”

“What? But we have to study for your biology mid term.”

“Biology?” Gail thought back briefly to mitochondria and lipids before shuddering. She was long past all of that, thank god. “Please god, tell me that I’m studying anatomy.”

“Yes, of course,” Holly managed to say without breaking her role. Gail was not very good at this. In her defence, Holly had surprised her with it. But still! 

“You know, Miss Stewart,”

“Holly is fine,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Fine.  _Spoilsport_ ,” Gail murmured. “Holly, you know, I’ve always been so much better with a hands on approach to learning.”

Holly grinned. Perfect. She had her right where she wanted her. “Oh really?”

"Yep.” Gail tucked her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans. “Do you think you can help me out?”

“Of course, Gail.” Holly beckoned her with a curled finger. “Why don’t you come over here and,” when Gail was next to her in three long strides, Holly pulled out the small teaching replica she had made of the human body, “check out this model I made earlier.”

Gail scowled. “No.”

“But I spent so long on it!” Holly complained. Of course, she wanted to throw Gail down on the couch and have her wicked way with her ‘student’ but now that Gail wasn’t even bothering to pay the slightest attention to something she had worked hard on, she was a little offended.

Gail narrowed her eyes. She looked the little replica doll up, turned it around, poked it a little. Then she put it down on the table and, grabbing Holly by the shoulder and the waist, walked her backwards to the couch. She pulled that stupidly gay plaid shirt down Holly’s arms. When they were trapped behind her by the wrists, Gail paused. Bit down on Holly’s neck and soothed the sting with her tongue. Holly groaned. 

“Are you done teaching?” Gail asked. 

“Umm.” Holly thought for a moment. “I could be convinced to take a break.”

“Good enough.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt —Izzy nominates Gail, Holly and Oliver to do the ice bucket challenge.

”No.”

“But Gail, you have to!”

“No.” Then, when Oliver  _still_ wasn’t listening to her and was puttering around getting water and ice and buckets of all things, she repeated herself. Firmly. “No!” _  
_

“Oh don’t be a baby.”

“I’m not a baby! Holly, help me out here.”

“Sorry, babe, I’m not going out there,” Holly said, voice muffled by the bedroom door. “You’re on your own.”

Gail beat her hands on the door, looking over her shoulder at the approaching Oliver and Izzy. 

“You’ve been nominated,” Oliver said darkly. “I did it. Now it’s your turn.”

“Is this because you want to be nice to Izzy again?” Gail cried, backing as far as she could into the door. Oliver grinned, a slightly crazy look to his eyes. Izzy, Gail could see, was around the corner and filming the whole thing. “I will kill you, Oliver. Oliver!  _No!”_ Gail screamed, beating at his back when he hoisted her over his shoulder and lugged her outside. He dropped her on the grass and then, when she stood, dumped a bucket of water over her head. 

Ice water.

Icy.

Cold.

She turned slowly, eyes narrowed. “You are so dead, Shaw.” He backed away. “Both of you. That’s you as well, little Shaw.”

"You have to nominate someone,” Izzy told her, completely unflustered by Gail’s threat. “Come on, Gail, it’s for charity.”

Gail paused. Smiled. “Holly Stewart.” Oliver started grinning as well. “Wipe that smile of your face! I’m still angry at you.” He saluted but joined her as they stalked inside. Gail picked the lock to the bedroom. Holly looked up from her place on the bed, casually lounging and reading. Seeing her soaked and unhappy girlfriend walking toward her, Holly smiled teasingly - and then began panicking when she saw Oliver and Izzy and the camera.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.” Gail grabbed her and together with Oliver they pulled the struggling woman outside. Gail held her still, literally sitting on top of Holly, while Oliver filled up the bucket again and added a few ice cubes. 

“I’ll get you again,” he warned Gail. 

She nodded. Set her jaw resolutely. “Do it.”

“Gail…”

“I know.” She looked up at him. “It’s okay. You have to do it.”

“No. I can’t. Not again. I won’t do it,” he said dramatically. 

“You have to.”

“I can’t.” He lowered the bucket and Holly started laughing. “Shush, prisoner.”

“I’ll do it!” Izzy offered. “Here dad.” She handed off the camera to Oliver, who took it with great delight, and then she grabbed the bucket and dumped it over Holly. It splashed Gail, who shivered, but Holly screamed and swore. 

“Totally worth it,” Gail laughed when Holly grabbed her, hugged her tightly, tried to shiver away the cold. She was still swearing. “Okay, get out of my home now,” she told their guests. “We have to get warm.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — heard a scream and thought you were getting killed but it was just a spider college au

An ungodly scream sent Gail scrambling out of her room, pepper spray and baton in hand. Yes, her mother had sent her to college with a baton. What of it?

Anyway, following the scream, she dove into the communal area where some idiot girl was standing, still shrieking, and hopping around pointing at the floor. Gail lowered her pepper spray and baton, though she felt like using it on the girl. 

“What the hell?” she asked. “What are you doing?”

“There’s a spider,” the girl shrieked. “Oh god, kill it!” She tried to wrestle the spray from Gail, who slapped her hand away.

“No." 

Across the hall was another girl, armed with a baseball bat. She rolled her eyes in an impressive fashion. 

"What the hell, Leslie?” When idiot girl looked up and over at baseball-bat girl, Gail assumed idiot girls name was Leslie. “I thought you were being killed.”

“There’s a spider, Holly. Kill it!”

Holly. Gail eyed the girl. She was tall, athletic, bespectacled. 

“Fine. Go back to your room.” Idiot girl sprinted out of there and Holly sighed, shook her head, and trotted over to the small kitchenette. She found a little tupperware container and peeled off the lid. 

“You aren’t going to kill it?” Gail asked. 

Holly jumped. She had forgotten about Gail. Not surprising, given that the blonde had retreated and not said a word. 

“Oh. Ah, no. I don’t really like killing things.” She knelt next to the spider - in Leslie’s defence, it was quite large - and urged it onto the lid. The second its hairy, creepy little body was on it, she dropped the container on top and picked it up. “Want to come with me?” she asked. 

“What?”

“To let him go. Poor thing must be traumatised.”

“It’s a spider,” Gail pointed out with a frown and crossed arms. “I think it’s fine.”

Holly shrugged. “Okay.”

Gail followed her anyway. 

“So, you know that girl? The one that pulled me out of my bed at  _seven_ on a Sunday morning?”

"Leslie,” Holly confirmed with a nod. “She’s my roommate.” Gail grimaced. She felt bad for Holly. “I don’t suppose you know anyone who’s looking for a new roommate?” the brunette joked. 

Gail spoke without thinking. “Mine moved out.” She blinked. Where had that come from? True, she was alone in the two person room but she had been so ecstatic about that for the last two weeks - freedom, blissful blissful freedom from the presence of the annoying roommate. 

“Oh yeah?”

And again, Gail spoke without thinking. “Ditch that loser. I’m awesome.”

Holly laughed. “Good to know.” They were outside then and Holly knelt, freeing the spider in a bush. It shifted around, settled. “There. I think he’s happy. Don’t you?”

“Ecstatic,” Gail drawled. 

Holly couldn’t help but smile. This little snarky blonde thing wasn’t friendly, that was for sure. But Leslie had been and she was also an idiot and an inconsiderate roommate. “I can move in by tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

“Awesome.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — I know there was a story written based off the picture of Aliyah covered in tattoos. I think it's Holly's sister who has all the tattoos. Can you write a story where it is Holly (and not a twin) who has all the tattoos? Gail discovers them unexpectedly and either doesn't know how to react or is super surprised/turned on.

Of course she had forgotten the keys. Of course, Gail grumbled to herself and tried rearranging everything in her arms so that she could knock on the door. Failing that, and hoping that Holly wouldn’t get too mad, she kicked lightly at it instead. 

“Holly,” she whined, eyeing the teetering packages warily. She kicked again. “Holly, let me in. The food is going to go everywhere.”

The door swung open; Holly was there, of course, but Gail didn’t look at her. She had to race to the kitchen counter to drop the food there before it went everywhere. After she separated them into noodle dishes and not-noodle dishes and not-to-be-shared-because-too-delicious dishes, she looked up, smiling. 

“See? I managed to - oh.” Her words trailed off at the sight of her girlfriend. 

“Gail?”

“You, and the…huh.” Gail frowned. Casting her mind back, she realised that she had never actually seen Holly without full-length sleeves. T-shirts. Nice t-shirts. Sweaters. Lab coat. Yup. She’d never seen Holly without sleeves before. And that was a crying shame. Because before her stood what was probably a masterpiece. Holly with her golden skin - which Gail could attest to the fact that it tasted like sunshine - and dark hair was a work of art. And she was wearing short sleeves so for the first time ever, Gail could see the lines of black and dashes of green and red. 

“Gail?" 

Gail blinked out of her stupor and looked into worried eyes. 

"I probably should have told you,” Holly said. “But I didn’t think you’d have a problem with them. And I don’t really think about them anymore, I don’t notice. They’re just another part of me and god I really should have told you before - mmph." 

Gail stopped her words with a kiss and walked Holly backwards into the wall. “Stay there for a sec, okay?” she murmured. Holly nodded and then just stared when Gail pulled away and trailed her fingers slowly, very slowly, down Holly’s left arm. Then again. This time, her index finger followed the lines. Then again, her thumb was smoothing over the skin like she couldn’t quite connect the sight of the tattoos with the perfectly smooth skin. There should be some distinction between tattooed and not-tattooed, right? Gail was bent over then, closely examining Holly’s forearm, her fingers still moving mindlessly over the skin. Oh. She liked that one, she realised. She liked all it, all of them, because they were Holly’s and they were something _of_ Holly, but this little flower all on its own…she liked this one especially. Her lips touched it. Curious, her tongue flicked against it. Above her, Holly gasped. 

"I guess,” Holly whispered, “you don’t have a problem with tattoos.”

“I think I really like tattoos.” Holly reached for her but Gail batted her hands away. She had another arm to examine. When she was finished tracing and touching, she paused. Holly was basically gnawing at her bottom lip - she couldn’t help it. Gail’s little fluttering touches and teasing nips and ugh. She had to know what she was doing. “Do you have any others?” Gail asked. 

Holly paused. As much as she wanted to have a seriously heated make out session, she got the impression that if she showed Gail some of her other tattoos, they would be going further than that. She didn’t want to push Gail.

“You do,” the blonde realised. Her hands moved from Holly’s shoulders, where her thumbs had been travelling in mindless circles, and slipped down, down, until they were at the hem of her shirt, just above low slung jeans. “Can I?”

Holly nodded. She pushed off a little from the wall and Gail pulled the shirt up and over her head. Then she fell to her knees because the first tattoo she saw was on Holly’s hip and if she were on her knees she would be at the perfect height to examine it properly. Holly’s head rolled back to lean against the wall - this wasn’t fair, she thought over and over. Gail  _had_ to know what she was doing to her. When her tongue trailed over the hipbone, Holly gasped and then growled. 

“That’s it,” she said, grabbing Gail’s shoulders. “I think we’re finished finger painting Holly’s tats - holy _shit_  Gail you can’t tease like that,” she gasped out when Gail bit lightly at her hip.

"I do what I like. And I am not finished.” Gail narrowed her eyes. “Hands off.” Holly kept her hands where they were, keeping Gail an arms length away from her body. 

“I’m super turned on right now,” Holly blurted out. “You know that, right? And we haven’t, you know, done anything and I know that you haven’t with a woman before and I don’t want you to think that you have to or that I’m expecting anything from you or that we have to do anything." 

Gail forced herself to stand, shaking Holly’s hands off her shoulders. “I’ve been wet since I saw your tattoos. I didn’t know I was into that but apparently I am.” She shrugged. “We are definitely having sex tonight.”

Holly gaped. “Oh.”

"If you want to.” Gail started unbuttoning her shirt. When it was hanging open, she shrugged again and Holly’s eyes were pulled to her chest. “We don’t have to.” She wasn’t wearing a bra. 

Holly spun them around quickly, startling Gail, so that it was her pressing the smaller woman into the wall. She paused for just one more moment. “Are you sure?”

“Holly, holy shit, yes. I am sure.” Gail was pulled on Holly’s neck, tugging her closer. “Holly, please,” she whined when her girlfriend didn’t budge an inch. 

Slowly, teasingly, Holly pressed their lips together. She trailed her hands down Gail’s sides, lightly brushed over her hips and stomach, which made Gail tense deliciously, and then pushed up again to rid Gail entirely of the shirt that was hanging open from her shoulders. 

At some point, they came to the simultaneous conclusion that hot-pressed-up-against-the-wall sex would be great but first they wanted the luxury and space of a proper bed. Holly tugged Gail along and they all but sprinted to the bedroom.

Later, wrapped in one another, Gail started laughing. Holly craned her neck over to look at the blonde. 

“You okay?”

“Amazing.” Gail tangled her fingers with Holly’s and squeezed reassuringly. “But I just realised that I never finished with all your tats.” Gail’s grin, when she rolled over on top of Holly, was the definition of wicked. “I guess I have to start from the start again.”

“You have to be thorough,” Holly agreed mildly, as if the idea hadn’t sent a thrill right through her. 

“Mm, that’s what I thought.” And Gail lowered her head to start again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — Did you recall that famous Aliyah picture of her on a motorbike? Can you do a story about it? Let's see your take on it. I don't care how you'll go about it but a little s-m-u-t will please your nerd fans more right? nsfw

”Man I wish we could pull that driver over,” Nick said wistfully as a leather-clad figure zoomed past at a, sadly for him, respectable speed. “I’d love to take that bike for a spin.” Gail grunted. “Can you imagine, Gail? Wind in your hair, aviators, cruising down the highway…” he nudged her and she grunted again. “You are a ball of sunshine today. You know that, right?”

She lolled her head to the side and glared at him. “Shut. Up.”

“Is it Holly?” he asked. “She’s been away for a couple of days hasn’t she?” His hands turned the steering wheel automatically, heading back to the station. 

“Yeah.”

“So why are you moping?” He shook his head, not understanding her one bit. “She’s coming back today. You should be happy.”

Gail just slouched in her seat and turned up her coat collar, setting down to ignore him for the next four minutes before she could roll out of the car and away from him. They were friends now, she supposed, but he was still a jerk. Sometimes. He was getting a  _little_ bit better. But still a jerk. 

When he pulled into the station, Gail did in fact roll out of the car before he had even stopped. She grabbed her bag from the trunk and stomped unhappily into the station. Rookies dove out of her path. When she was frowning like that, they knew, the wrath of Gail Peck was imminent.

The reason, she supposed as she stomped, that she was so annoyed at him was probably because he was right. She should be happy that Holly was coming home. And she was. But…she’d been upset that Holly had gone at all. What did that mean? What did that mean for Gail? Was she a weird lovey-dovey romantic stupid head like Chloe, aka the pretty pretty princess, now? Had Holly neutered her badassness?Oh she didn’t even care if she was, she was mostly just thrown by the fact that when she woke up in the morning there wasn’t a familiar face waiting with a cheeky smile and a cup of really good coffee. She was thrown by the fact that she thought about Holly all the time. She was thrown by the fact that Holly’s asbsence was so damn  _noticeable_. Nick had been gone for six whole goddamn months and she hadn’t thought about him as much as she had about Holly in the last seventy two hours. 

She had only managed to roughly wrestle off her uniform shirt when her phone rang.  _Nick the Dick_. She snatched it up with a growled, “What?”

“Uh. You might want to come out here,” Nick said to her with that tone of voice that was kind of thrilled, kind of jealous. 

Gail started her stomping again And went out to the carpark where she had left her partner, only to stop dead and stare. 

The engine revved. Then that long, sleek body was sliding off the motorbike she and Nick had seen earlier as it cruised around - clearly, Gail realised now, just waiting for Gail to finish her shift.

Gail swallowed and her eyes dragged slowly up and down her girlfriend’s body. Holly had poured herself steaming hot into tight pants and a leather jacket and boots that strapped up her calves  and Gail approved like she had never approved of anything before. Aviators finished the look and then Holly - who was playing with fire now, Gail hoped she realised - let out her hair and shook it out over her shoulders, where it fell into dark wavy lengths that Gail wanted to twist her fingers into, bury her hands in that softness, and then bring Holly forward into a clashing, bruising, hot hard kiss and push her against the wall and pin her there and oh god

“Gail?”

No wait even better she wanted Holly to let her kiss her and then turn the tables so that it was Gail pinned, pinned where, oh yes right on top of that bike would do nicely and then Holly would

“Gail?” Nick shoved her lightly and Gail blinked out of her daydream. “Aren’t you going to say anything to your girlfriend?” He waved cheerily over at Holly who, smirking, waved back. 

Holly knew exactly what had happened to Gail though. She sat happy as anything to wait for Gail to come to her, leaning back on her hands and lengthening that body for Gail’s eye-balling delight. 

“Hey Nick,” Gail said. “Give my stuff to Chris to take back to the apartment, okay?” Without waiting to hear his reply - which had  _better_ be yes ma’am or else she would be having serious words with him later - she strode over to Holly. 

“I like your look,” Holly teased, tugging on Gail’s tight black undershirt. It was clear that she hadn’t taken care, that she had just stripped off her shirt and then angrily marched outside. 

Gail took no note. “I like your look,” she said back. She, however, was one hundred per cent serious and her voice dropped into a low husk . 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Holly grinned. Gail slid her hands up slowly to rest around Holly’s neck and she pulled her into a bruising, hot kiss much like the one she had imagined only less - less than she wanted because they were in public but more because it was filled to the brim with promise that once they got home they would be moving straight to the bedroom and Holly could bet that she wouldn’t be leaving again for a very long time. Not if Gail had her way. 

“Get on the bike,” Holly said, pulling away from Gail and swinging herself onto the bike. She handed Gail the spare helmet. “Right now.”

Gail pulled herself over the bike and settled astride it, her front flush up against Holly’s back. Holly kicked the bike into gear and, with a wave at Nick who was still checking out the bike -  _It had better be the bike you checking out Nicholas,_ Gail warned him in her mind - they were gone. 

Everything was Holly. The rumble of the bike beneath them was power and the turn of flesh from ribs to hips to legs was Holly and the heat of the sun was Holly and the smell that rushed back into her face was Holly’s and Gail’s hands slid under her shirt, slipping around smooth skin to brush her abdomen. She could feel Holly tensing and then laughing and the engine revved again. Faster, the stroking hand was urging Holly. Get. Home. Faster. 

The bike - regrettably out in the open so that wasn’t a part of their fun times this time -  was left behind. Gail and Holly jumped into the elevator and then Gail was pressed back against metal walls and Holly’s mouth was on her neck, sucking and biting and eliciting moans that Gail would be embarrassed about if she weren’t so nicely distracted by the hands that were pushing her shirt up to give Holly better access to wide expanses of skin. Gail’s blunt nails scraped against the leather and the small of Holly’s back simultaneously, pulling Holly closer, give me more those nails said. And Holly obliged, pushing her knee into Gail and gripped her ass through her pants and pulled her down onto the tense muscles of her leg and Gail held tight to Holly’s shoulders, eyes fluttering, and her groans reached higher each time Holly pushed up into her because but then, then Holly was laughing because the elevator dinged and she pulled away.

Gail glared, furious, at the doors and the last of her groans came out as a growl when she felt Holly pull away.

She strode out of the elevator - holding all her tension inside of her like a storm and goddammit things were about to get wet - and yanked Holly into the apartment. She grabbed Holly’s jacket and pushed it off, Holly shrugging it away, and the shirt what shirt? Gail ripped that up and off. The pants were next. Gail reached for the button to her jeans but Holly batted her hands away - no problem, she redirected them into Holly’s hair, yanking her forward into a kiss and barely registering Holly bending down a little. She did notice when feet left the ground and she yelped but swooned a little when Holly held her up. Gail’s legs wrapped around her waist and then her back was against a thankfully solid wall and no interruptions in sight and Holly good god Holly was rolling her hips and the button, the seam of her jeans, the pressure was just right almost enough and they both knew they weren’t going to make it to the bed there was no way they would but Holly didn’t want Gail to go over that edge without first having her skin on Gail’s skin so she pushed Gail back harder against the helpful wall and grinned into her neck when Gail choked out a _fuck_ and bit into her lip and pulled Holly sharply closer because out of control Gail was one of her favourite Gail’s, ever part of her - her love her honesty her openness her devotion her sharp hot heady  _want_  - able to be read in the lines and dips and movements of her body. 

Holly’s hand dipped into Gail’s pants and swiped into the wetness there. She felt Gail tense and then sharp teeth were at her ear and threatening “so help me god, Holly,  _oh_ ,” distracted by a bold stroke, “if you dare to tease me I’ll,” but Holly didn’t wait to hear what the remainder of that delicious threat would be she just pushed into Gail hard and fast and hiked up that shirt so that her mouth could leisurely nip and suck at Gail’s nipples and Gail was crying out and then biting into Holly’s shoulder and pushing down onto Holly’s hand with loose, sloppy jerks and her head slammed back against the wall and “ _oh god_ ,” and “Holly” were the only stuttered words that Gail could manage.

After a little while, when Gail released the almost painful grip on Holly’s shoulders, and the hands instead smoothed over the skin and into her hair and down her back moving wherever the still fierce pumping blood demanded Gail move them, Holly helped her to the ground and kissed Gail lightly. 

“Good?’ she asked, teasingly, because her fingers drifted over Gail as she asked and her girlfriend twitched  and moaned lightly. 

"I fucking hate you sometimes,” she murmured, arching up into the hand. Her eyes drifted closed and she pressed small kisses up and down Holly’s neck as a thank you and a promise of wonderful wonderful reciprocation…once she could feel her legs. 

“Does that mean you want me to stop?”

“Never.” Holly calculated in her mind how long it would take them to get to the couch and, deeming it far too long, just lowered Gail to the ground. “By the way,” Gail gasped out, “I like the bike. ”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” Gail slipped her hand into Holly’s tight pants. “Totally hot.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tumblr prompt — What if it was Holly with Gail instead of Andy during her oxy trip?

”I don’t know what I was expecting really,” Andy said quietly. 

“Just get out.” Gail groaned. “And call Lunchbox for me. I don’t want to see your face.”

“You want me to call who?” Andy was so freaking useless. She couldn’t even understand her. 

“Lunch. Box,” Gail growled. “She’s nice. Call her. Because she’ll be fun to hang out with. Unlike you, dirty McBadFriend.” Gail pointed over to her phone, groaning loudly when her wrist twinged. “Hurry up.”

“Lunchbox?” Andy murmured to herself, confused. She scrolled through the contacts, hoping that there really was someone with that name because otherwise she would have to suffer the wrath of Gail even more than she already was. Overwhelming didn’t even come close to describing the amount of relief Andy felt when she saw the beautiful, beautiful name ‘Lunchbox’ under L. She dialled.

“Hey there. I didn’t think I’d hear from you today,” an unfamiliar voice greeted her.

Andy cleared her throat awkwardly. “Umm, actually, this is Officer McNally. Is this…” She felt weird asking. “Is this, er, Lunchbox?”

The other person didn’t say anything for a moment. “Gail called me that before, yes. Can I help you officer?”

“Oh no. Well, yes. Not me,” Andy clarified. “Gail. She asked me to call you because she can’t at the moment.”

“Can’t?” The woman sounded nervous.

“She’s, uh,” Andy turned around to glance at Gail. The blonde was staring at the floor blankly, mouthing words occasionally. “High.”

“What?”

“The doctors gave her a lot of oxycodone and she’s totally out of it.”

“What - why - okay, hold on. Where are you?”

Andy gave her the name of the hospital and, when the woman promised that she would be there as soon as possible, hung up. She loitered outside Gail’s room, not wanting to leave her partner but desperately not wanting to go back inside the room to face her. She just couldn’t. So when a nice looking brunette lady rushed over, Andy was there to intercept her. 

“Yeah, hi, sorry this room is occupied.”

“Holly Stewart,” the woman introduced herself. Shook her head. “Lunchbox?” She managed a half smile when Andy’s face brightened. 

“Oh right. Uh…hold on a second.” Bracing herself, Andy opened the door to Gail’s room. “Gail?”

“You’re still here,” the blonde noted airily. “Why? I told you to leave.” Since she was directing her words to the lamp, Andy gathered she was still well and truly drugged up. 

“I couldn’t just leave you, Gail, you’re hurt.”

“I’m fine.” She waved her hand vigorously around to prove that, and her face crumpled. She hissed and clutched her wrist to her chest. “Ow.”

“Are you okay? Do you want me to get a doctor?” She was half out the door already and ready to race to the nurses station. 

But then Gail said, “I just want Lunchbox. She’s a doctor. A dead doctor but she’s a doctor and better, she’s not  _you_.” Andy winced. She deserved that. “Lunchbox is better than you. I like her. She’s nice and we’re friends. Because you couldn’t keep your heart in your pants and I needed to make a new friend.”

“She’s here,” Andy interrupted. “Holly. Lunchbox. She’s here.”

Gail turned slowly towards Andy. “Where are you keeping her? And don’t you dare take your heart out of your pants, McBaddy. She’s  _my_ friend, okay?”

“Okay.” Andy nodded reassuringly. “Okay. I’ll get her.” She ducked out into the hallway and scratched at her eyebrow, feeling incredibly awkward in front of this nice friend of Gail’s. “So…she wants you to stay with her. Would that be alright?”

“Of course,” Holly said immediately and breezed past Andy. Not ifs or buts about it. Holly would stay with Gail. 

Andy found a seat and, adjusting her belt so it didn’t dig into her hips, sat. Holly’s presence gave her a free pass out of there but the idea of leaving didn’t sit right, made her stomach churn. She made herself comfortable in the hallway and waited. 

Gail’s face lit up when Holly crept into the room. 

“Lunchbox!” she greeted enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically. She groaned again, cradling her wrist. She just kept forgetting. She forgot the pain a moment later and smiled at Holly. “You came.”

“Of course I did.” Holly sat on the stool and wheeled it to Gail’s side. She touched the bandage - tight but not too tight, didn’t appear to need redressing - and nodded. Not a bad job. “What did you do to yourself?” she asked lightly.

“Not me. It was a monster.”

“A monster?” Holly prompted. 

“Yeah. It drooled all over my arm and it burnt me. It wasn’t a very nice monster.”

Holly snagged Gail’s file from the end of the bed - shushing Gail’s “hey that’s mine” - and skimmed the information. Industrial cleaner. Chemical burn. Ouch. 

“Oliver and I are going shopping,” Gail whispered. “For shoes.” She kicked her legs lightly. “And weapons.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m going to hunt down that elephant.”

“Elephant poaching is a serious crime, Gail. The ivory trade is doing terrible damage to the number of wild elephants,” Holly scolded.

Gail heard her out and nodded. “Andy is hiding one,” she explained. “It’s tiny and pink like a baby and it’s creepy.” That made a little more sense. Well, it made very little sense but it made more sense than Gail buying a weapon and hunting a real elephant. Holly wondered if Gail was talking about the little pink elephant that had been thrown into the corner of the room. It was a little creepy looking. 

“What do you carry in your lunchbox?” Gail asked later. 

“My forensic equipment.”

“Can you eat it?”

“No.” Holly smiled. “I can’t eat it.”

“Can  _I_ eat it?”

"No.”

Gail pouted. “Rude. Why not?”

“Because it isn’t edible.”

“Oh.” Gail’s fingers brushed over Holly’s sleeve and her eyes widened. “Oh my god. What is this?”

“It’s a sweater, Gail.”

“This is the softest thing I’ve ever felt.” She held tight to Holly’s sleeve. “Holly, touch it. Touch it, Holly. It’s the softest thing ever. Oh my god.” She yawned then, so widely that her jaw cracked and Gail was afraid that she was falling to pieces.

“You aren’t falling to pieces,” Holly had to reassure her. “Yes. I’m positive. Absolutely. You are not falling to pieces.” Gail yawned again. “Why don’t you lie down?” she suggested. Drugged up Gail was cute but a handful and she would be relieved if the blonde woman slept through some of it. 

“Will you stay?” Gail asked drowsily. “I like you, you smell nice.”

Holly smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’ll stay.”

With her hand still clutching Holly’s sleeve, Gail shuffled back and laid down on the bed. She curled up on her side and blinked with wide eyes up at Holly - who had, quite possibly, never seen a more adorable sight. Gail’s hair was unkept now, no doubt she had played with her hair, and it had loosened from its tight braid to frame her face softly with little wild tendrils. She looked pale and small and Holly knew that she’d never be able to leave her side with Gail looking at her with such trusting eyes. A pang in her chest told her to abort mission, bad idea, go back, wrong way, heartbreak up ahead, retreat retreat. But it was too late. She flew past those signs and alarms with an alacrity that was new and foreign to her, she who was usually reserved and cautious.

“Be here when I wake up?” Gail asked softly, pulling her attention. “Stay?”

Holly smiled and answered the same as she had before. “Yes, Gail. I’ll stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> unicyclehippo on tumblr as well, come along & say hi if you want


End file.
